U.S. patent number 6,511,324 [Application Number 09/414,393] was granted by the patent office on 2003-01-28 for phonological awareness, phonological processing, and reading skill training system and method.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Cognitive Concepts, Inc.. Invention is credited to Janet M. Wasowicz.
United States Patent |
6,511,324 |
Wasowicz |
January 28, 2003 |
Phonological awareness, phonological processing, and reading skill
training system and method
Abstract
A training tool for training and assessing one or more auditory
processing, phonological awareness, phonological processing and
reading skills of an individual is provided. The training tool may
use various graphical games to train the individual's ability in a
particular set of auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological processing and reading skills. The system may use
speech recognition technology to permit the user to interact with
the games.
Inventors: |
Wasowicz; Janet M. (Evanston,
IL) |
Assignee: |
Cognitive Concepts, Inc.
(Evanston, IL)
|
Family
ID: |
26800370 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/414,393 |
Filed: |
October 6, 1999 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/167;
434/322 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G09B
5/065 (20130101); G09B 7/04 (20130101); G09B
17/006 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G09B
1/00 (20060101); G09B 17/00 (20060101); G09B
19/00 (20060101); G09B 11/00 (20060101); G09B
5/00 (20060101); G09B 19/04 (20060101); G09B
011/00 () |
Field of
Search: |
;434/156,185,157,169,167,322,323,37R |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Other References
Innerlogic Reading Edge: Educator's Guide, Innerlogic Software
(1998). .
Central Test Battery, Precision Acoustics (1998). .
R. Haaf et. al., "Computer-Based Language Assessment Software: The
Effects of Presentation and Response Format", Language, Speech, and
Hearing Services in Schools, vol. 3, pp 68-74 (1999). .
Phonemic Awareness in Young Children: A Classroom Curriculum,
Chapter 10 by Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co. (1998). .
J.K. Torgesen et al., Test of Phonological Awareness: Examiner's
Manual, Pro-Ed, (1994). .
C.H. Lindamood et al., The LAC Test (Lindamood Auditory
Conceptualization Test) Revised Edition--Manual (1971). .
C. Robertson et al., The Phonological Awareness Test--Examiner's
Manual, LinguiSystems, Inc. (1997). .
J.K. Torgesen et al., "TOWRE--Test of Word Reading
Efficiency--Examiner's Manual", Pro-Ed (1999). .
R.K. Wagner et al., "CTOPP--Comprehensive Test of Phonological
Processing--Examiner's Manual", Pro-Ed (1999). .
Auditory Processing Enhancement Programs, vol. 2: Auditory
Discrimination/Phonological Awareness, Academic Communication
Associates (1997). .
Perceive & Respond vol. 1: Environmental Sounds--Second
Edition, Academic Communication Associates (1997). .
Perceive & Respond vol. 2: Listening for Auditory
Differences--Second Edition, Academic Communication Associates
(1997). .
Perceive & Respond vol. 3: Auditory Sequential Memory--Second
Edition Academic Communication Associates (1997). .
Assessment and Instruction in Phonological Awareness, Florida Dept.
of Education (1999). .
Central Test Battery, Precision Acoustics. .
Ensure Success for Your Beginning Readers; STAR Early Literacy;
Renaissance Learning (2002). .
Assess Reading Growth in 10 Minutes or Less; STAR Early Literacy,
Renaissance Learning (2002). .
Phonics-Based Reading Software-Educational Software for Teachers
and Parents; Lexia Learning Systems, Inc. (2000). .
Waterford Early Reading Program (WERP); Waterford Institute;
Electronic Education, a division of Pearson Education (2000). .
Breakthrough To Literacy--The New Three R's: Research, Reading, and
Results; Wright Group McGraw-Hill (2000)..
|
Primary Examiner: Cheng; Joe H.
Assistant Examiner: Christman; Kathleen M
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Gray Cary Ware & Freidenrich
LLP
Parent Case Text
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority, under 35 USC .sctn.120, from U.S.
patent application Ser. No. 60/103,354 filed Oct. 7, 1998 and
entitled "Adaptive Auditory and Phonological Apparatus and Method"
which is incorporated herein by reference.
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. A tool for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, comprising: one or more training
modules that train a particular set of auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
so that the user's skills at the set of skills improves, the
training modules further comprises a sound detection training
module including means for presenting a series of sounds to the
user and means for receiving a response from the user indicating
the sounds and the order of presentation; means for generating a
stimulus for the user for each training module, the stimulus
comprising at least one of a graphical image and an audible sound;
and means for receiving a user response to one of the graphical
images and audible sound presented by each module.
2. The tool of claim 1, wherein the receiving means further
comprises a speech recognition device for receiving and
interpreting a verbal response from the user to a question posed by
the one or more modules.
3. The tool of claim 2, wherein the one or more training modules
each comprise one or more tasks that train different auditory
processing, phonological awareness, phonological processing and
reading skills.
4. The tool of claim 3, wherein each training module further
comprises means for changing a difficulty variable of each task in
the module in order to change the difficulty of the task.
5. The tool of claim 4, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for increasing the difficulty of the task
when a first predetermined number of responses from the user are
correct and means for decreasing the difficulty of the task when a
second predetermined number of responses are incorrect.
6. The tool of claim 4, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for increasing the difficulty of the task
when a first predetermined number of consecutive responses from the
user are correct and means for decreasing the difficulty of the
task when a second predetermined number of consecutive responses
are incorrect, the second predetermined number being less than the
first predetermined number.
7. The tool of claim 1, wherein the sound detection training module
further comprises means for changing one or more difficulty
variables of the task to change the difficulty of the task.
8. The tool of claim 7, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises a number of sounds presented to the user.
9. The tool of claim 7, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the syllable structure of a
word presented to the user, the syllable structure including one or
more vowels and one or more consonants in a predetermined
order.
10. The tool of claim 7, wherein the sound detection training
module further comprises a task requiring the user to identify the
number and sequence of sounds in a word comprising means for
presenting, in sequence, the one or more sounds in a word to the
user and means for receiving a response from the user indicating
the number and sequence of sounds in a word.
11. The tool of claim 10 wherein the task further comprises means
for changing the difficulty of the task by changing one or more
difficulty variables.
12. The tool of claim 11, wherein the difficulty variable comprises
the number of sounds presented to the user.
13. The tool of claim 11, wherein the difficulty variable comprises
the availability of auditory feedback to the user.
14. The tool of claim 11, wherein the difficulty variable comprises
the syllable structure of the word.
15. The tool of claim 7, wherein the sound detection training
module further comprises a task requiring the user to manipulate
one or more sounds to form a new word from the one or more sounds
comprising means for presenting the one or more sounds and means
for receiving a response from the user with the new word from the
one or more sounds.
16. The tool of claim 7, wherein the sound detection training
module further comprises a task requiring the user to manipulate
one or more sounds to form a new word from the one or more sounds
comprising means for presenting the one or more sounds, means for
receiving a response from the user with the new word from the one
or more sounds and means for changing the difficulty of the
task.
17. The tool of claim 16, wherein the difficulty changing means
comprises means for changing the amount of auditory feedback
provided to the user.
18. The tool of claim 16, wherein the difficulty changing means
comprises means for changing the type of sound manipulation to be
performed by the user, the sounds manipulation including one of
re-arranging phonemes, deleting a phoneme, replacing a phoneme and
inserting a phoneme.
19. The tool of claim 16, wherein the difficulty changing means
comprises means for changing the number of sounds presented to the
user.
20. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound blending training module comprising means for
presenting a series of sound units to the user and means for
receiving a response from the user indicating the word formed by
the sounds units.
21. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound blending training module comprising means for
presenting a series of sound units to the user, means for receiving
a response from the user indicating the word formed by the sounds
units and means for changing one or more difficulty variables of
the task to change the difficulty of the task.
22. The tool of claim 21, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the syllable structure of a
word presented to the user, the syllable structure including one or
more vowels and one or more consonants in a predetermined
order.
23. The tool of claim 21, wherein the sound blending training
module further comprises means for omitting a sound unit from a
word wherein the user must recognize the word without the omitted
sound unit.
24. The tool of claim 23, wherein the sound blending module further
comprises means for changing one or more difficulty variables in
order to change the difficulty of the task.
25. The tool of claim 24, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the position of the omitted
sound unit in the word.
26. The tool of claim 24, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the size of the sound units
presented to the user.
27. The tool of claim 24, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the number of sound units
presented to the user.
28. The tool of claim 24, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the syllable structure of the
word.
29. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound identification training module comprising means
for repeatedly presenting a series of sounds to the user, the
sounds changing at a predetermined time and means for receiving a
response from the user indicating when the sound changed.
30. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound identification training module comprising means
for repeatedly presenting the same sound, means for presenting a
different sound and means for receiving a response from the user
indicating when the user heard the different sound.
31. The tool of claim 30 wherein the sound identification training
module further comprises means for changing one or more difficulty
variables of the task to change the difficulty of the task.
32. The tool of claim 31, wherein the difficulty changing means
comprises means for changing the perceptual saliency of the sound
by ordering the sounds based on their inherent acoustic and
phonetic properties.
33. The tool of claim 31, wherein the difficulty changing means
comprises means for changing the phonetic context of the sound.
34. The tool of claim 31, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing types of the sounds presented
to the user, the types of sounds including vowels and
consonants.
35. The tool of claim 31, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the acoustic and perceptual
difference between the sounds by acoustically modifying the
sounds.
36. The tool of claim 30, wherein the sound identification training
module further comprises a task requiring the user to identify a
target sound in a word further comprising means for presenting a
target sound to the user, means for presenting a series of words to
the user and means for receiving a response from the user when the
user hears the word containing the target sound.
37. The tool of claim 36, wherein the task further comprises means
for changing one or more difficulty variables in order to change
the difficulty of the task.
38. The tool of claim 37, wherein the changing means comprises
means for changing the acoustic and perceptual saliency of the
word.
39. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound pattern recognition training module comprising
means for presenting a target sound to the user and means for
receiving a response from the user indicating that the user hears a
word with the target sound.
40. The tool of claim 1, wherein the training modules further
comprise a sound pattern recognition training module comprising
means for presenting a target sound to the user, means for
receiving a response from the user indicating that the user hears a
word with the target sound and means for changing one or more
difficulty variables of the task to change the difficulty of the
task.
41. The tool of claim 40, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the complexity of the target
sound presented to the user.
42. The tool of claim 40, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the position in the word of
the target sound.
43. The tool of claim 40, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the perceptual saliency of the
target sound by ordering the sounds based on their inherent
acoustic and phonetic properties.
44. The tool of claim 1, wherein the one or more training modules
further comprise a sound pattern recognition training module
further comprising means for presenting one or more target sounds
to the user and means for receiving a response from the user
blending the one or more sounds into a word.
45. The tool of claim 44, wherein the sound pattern recognition
training further comprises means for changing one or more
difficulty variables of the task to change the difficulty of the
task.
46. The tool of claim 45, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the complexity of the target
sound presented to the user.
47. The tool of claim 45, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the position in the word of
the target sound.
48. The tool of claim 45, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the perceptual saliency of the
target sound by ordering the sounds based on their inherent
acoustic and phonetic properties.
49. The tool of claim 44, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the amount of background noise
presented between sound units.
50. The tool of claim 1, wherein the one or more training modules
further comprise a sound pattern recognition training module
further comprising means for presenting one or more target sounds
to the user and means for receiving a response from the user
manipulating the one or more sounds into a new word.
51. The tool of claim 50, wherein the sound pattern recognition
training further comprises means for changing one or more
difficulty variables of the task to change the difficulty of the
task.
52. The tool of claim 51, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the complexity of the target
sound presented to the user.
53. The tool of claim 51, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the position in the word of
the target sound.
54. The tool of claim 51, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the perceptual saliency of the
target sound by ordering the sounds based on their inherent
acoustic and phonetic properties.
55. The tool of claim 51, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises means for changing the syllable structure of the
word.
56. A method for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, the method comprising: providing
one or more training modules wherein each module trains a
particular set of auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological processing and reading skills so that the user's
skills at the set of skills improves, wherein providing the
training modules further comprises the step of providing a sound
detection training module comprising including the step of
presenting a series of sounds to the user and receiving a response
from the user indicating the sounds and the order of presentation;
generating a stimulus in each training module, the stimulus
comprising at least one of a graphical image and an audible sound;
and receiving a user response to one of the graphical images and
audible sound presented by each module.
57. The method of claim 56, wherein the receiving step further
comprises receiving a verbal response using a speech recognition
device from the user to the one or more modules.
58. The method of claim 57, wherein providing one or more training
modules further comprises providing one or more tasks for each
training module that train different auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading
skills.
59. The method of claim 58 further comprising changing a difficulty
variable of each task in the module in order to change the
difficulty of the task.
60. The method of claim 59, wherein the difficulty changing further
comprises increasing the difficulty of the task when a first
predetermined number of responses from the user are correct and
decreasing the difficulty of the task when a second predetermined
number of responses are incorrect.
61. The method of claim 59, wherein the difficulty changing further
comprises increasing the difficulty of the task when a first
predetermined number of consecutive responses from the user are
correct and decreasing the difficulty of the task when a second
predetermined number of consecutive responses are incorrect, the
second predetermined number being less than the first predetermined
number.
62. The method of claim 56, wherein providing the training modules
further comprises providing a sound detection training module
further comprising changing one or more difficulty variables of the
task to change the difficulty of the task.
63. The method of claim 62, wherein the difficulty changing further
comprises changing the number of sounds presented to the user.
64. The method of claim 62, wherein the difficulty changing further
comprises changing the syllable structure of a word presented to
the user, the syllable structure including one or more vowels and
one or more consonants in a predetermined order.
65. The method of claim 62, wherein the sound detection training
module further comprises requiring the user in a task to identify
the number and sequence of sounds in a word comprising presenting,
in sequence, the one or more sounds in a word to the user and
receiving a response from the user indicating the number and
sequence of sounds in the word.
66. The method of claim 65 further comprising changing the
difficulty of the task by changing one or more difficulty
variables.
67. The method of claim 66, wherein changing the difficulty
variable comprises changing the number of sounds presented to the
user.
68. The method of claim 66, wherein changing the difficulty
variable comprises changing the availability of auditory feedback
to the user.
69. The method of claim 66, wherein changing the difficulty
variable comprises changing the syllable structure of the word.
70. The method of claim 62, wherein providing the sound detection
training module further comprises requiring the user in a task to
manipulate one or more sounds to form a new word from the one or
more sounds comprising presenting the one or more sounds and
receiving a response from the user with the new word from the one
or more sounds.
71. The method of claim 62, wherein providing the sound detection
training module further comprises requiring the user in a task to
manipulate one or more sounds to form a new word from the one or
more sounds comprising presenting the one or more sounds, receiving
a response from the user with the new word from the one or more
sounds and changing the difficulty of the task.
72. The method of claim 71, wherein changing the difficulty
comprises changing the amount of auditory feedback provided to the
user.
73. The method of claim 71, wherein the difficulty changing
comprises changing the type of sound manipulation to be performed
by the user, the sounds manipulation including one of re-arranging
phonemes, deleting a phoneme, replacing a phoneme and inserting a
phoneme.
74. The method of claim 71, wherein the difficulty changing
comprises changing the number of sounds presented to the user.
75. A tool for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, comprising: one or more training
modules that train a particular set of auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
so that the user's skills at the set of skills improves, the
training modules further comprises a sound detection training
module including means for presenting a series of sounds to the
user and means for receiving a response from the user indicating
the number of sounds; means for generating a stimulus for the user
for each training module, the stimulus comprising at least one of a
graphical image and an audible sound; and means for receiving a
user response to one of the graphical images and audible sound
presented by each module.
76. A tool for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, comprising: one or more training
modules that train a particular set of auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
so that the user's skills at the set of skills improves, the
training modules further comprises a sound detection training
module including means for presenting a series of sounds to the
user, means for receiving a response from the user indicating the
number of sounds and means for changing one or more difficulty
variables of the task to change the difficulty of the task; means
for generating a stimulus for the user for each training module,
the stimulus comprising at least one of a graphical image and an
audible sound; and means for receiving a user response to one of
the graphical images and audible sound presented by each
module.
77. The tool of claim 76, wherein the difficulty changing means
further comprises a number of sounds presented to the user.
78. A method for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, the method comprising: providing
one or more training modules wherein each module trains a
particular set of auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological processing and reading skills so that the user's
skills at the set of skills improves, wherein providing the
training modules further comprises the step of providing a sound
detection training module comprising including the step of
presenting a series of sounds to the user and receiving a response
from the user indicating the number of sounds; generating a
stimulus in each training module, the stimulus comprising at least
one of a graphical image and an audible sound; and receiving a user
response to one of the graphical images and audible sound presented
by each module.
79. A method for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, the method comprising: providing
one or more training modules wherein each module trains a
particular set of auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological processing and reading skills so that the user's
skills at the set of skills improves, wherein providing the
training modules further comprises the step of providing a sound
detection training module comprising including the step of
presenting a series of sounds to the user, receiving a response
from the user indicating the number of sounds and changing one or
more difficulty variables of the task to change the difficulty of
the task; generating a stimulus in each training module, the
stimulus comprising at least one of a graphical image and an
audible sound; and receiving a user response to one of the
graphical images and audible sound presented by each module.
80. The method of claim 79, wherein the difficulty changing further
comprises changing a number of sounds presented to the user.
81. A method for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, the method comprising: providing
one or more training modules wherein each module trains a
particular set of auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological processing and reading skills so that the user's
skills at the set of skills improves, wherein the set of skills
further comprises auditory attention, short term memory,
figure-ground discrimination and sequential memory, temporal
processing, pattern recognition, phoneme sequencing, phonological
segmentation and phonological manipulation; generating a stimulus
in each training module, the stimulus comprising at least one of a
graphical image and an audible sound; and receiving a user response
to one of the graphical images and audible sound presented by each
module.
82. A tool for training one or more skills associated with the
reading skills of an individual, comprising: one or more training
modules that train a particular set of auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
so that the user's skills at the set of skills improves, wherein
the set of skills further comprises auditory attention, short term
memory, figure-ground discrimination and sequential memory,
temporal processing, pattern recognition, phoneme sequencing,
phonological segmentation and phonological manipulation; means for
generating a stimulus for the user for each training module, the
stimulus comprising at least one of a graphical image and an
audible sound; and means for receiving a user response to one of
the graphical images and audible sound presented by each module.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to a training and assessment
system and method for training and measuring one or more different
areas of phonological awareness, phonological processing, auditory
processing, and reading skills in order to train the individual in
the one or more different areas.
It is well known that a relationship exists between phonological
processing abilities of an individual and the normal acquisition of
beginning reading and spelling skills. For inefficient and disabled
readers and spellers, the impasse exists in the perceptual and
conceptual elusiveness of phonemes. Phonemes are the smallest units
of speech that correspond to the sounds of our spoken language. Our
phonologically based language requires that students have a
sensitivity to and an explicit understanding of the phonological
structure of words. This explicit understanding of the phonological
structure of words is known as phonological awareness. Phonological
awareness skills are displayed by an individual when the individual
is able to isolate and identify individual sounds within words and
to manipulate those identified sounds. Phonological processing
refers to the use of information about the sound structure of oral
language to process oral and written information. These include,
for example, verbal short term memory, sequencing and language
comprehension skills.
The English language has words that are comprised of sounds in some
predetermined order. From the vast number of possible sequences of
sounds, words in the English language actually use a relatively
small number of sequences and the majority of these sequences are
common to many words. A child who becomes aware of these common
sound sequences is typically more adept at mastering these
sequences when the words are presented in their printed form (i.e.,
when the child is reading the words) than a child who lacks this
awareness of sounds. For example, the word "mat" has three distinct
phonemes /m/, /ae/ and /t/. The words "sat" and "bat" have
different initial phonemes, /s/ and /b/ respectively, but share the
middle and final phonemes (/ae/ and /t/, respectively) that form
the common spelling pattern "at". To a child with normal
phonological awareness, our alphabetic orthography appears to be a
sensible system for representing speech in writing. Thus, a child
may employ the strategy of sounding out unknown words or letter
sequences by analogy to known words with identical letter
sequences. For example, the child may pronounce the unknown word
"bat" by rhyming it with the known word "cat".
Phonological awareness skills are grouped into two categories
including synthesis and analysis. Phonological synthesis refers to
the awareness that separate sound units may be blended together to
form whole words. Phonological analysis refers to the awareness
that whole words may be segmented into a set of sound units,
including syllables, onset-rimes and phonemes. Both analysis and
synthesis skills have been identified as important prerequisites
for achieving the goal of early reading skill proficiency and
deficits of either and/or both of these skills are typically
present in children with reading and spelling disabilities.
Auditory processing skills, including the ability to perceive
sounds and differences between sounds, provide an important
foundation for building phonological awareness skills.
In addition to these phonological awareness skills, phonetic coding
has been linked to efficient reading ability. Phonetic coding
refers to the child's ability to use a speech-sound representation
system for efficient storage of verbal information in working
memory. The ability to efficiently use phonetic codes to represent
verbal information in working memory may be measured by performance
on memory span tasks for items with verbal labels. Children with
reading problems have been found to perform poorly on memory span
tasks for items with verbal labels. Thus, phonetic coding is an
important skill for a reader. For a beginning reader, he/she must
1) first decode each sound in the word by voicing the appropriate
sound for each symbol; 2) store the appropriate sounds in short
term memory while the remainder of the symbols are being sounded
out; and 3) blend all of the sounds from memory together to form a
word. The efficient phonetic representation in verbal short term
memory permits beginning readers to devote less cognitive energy to
the decoding of sound symbol correspondence thus leaving adequate
cognitive resources to comprehend what has been read.
Returning to the relationship between phonological processing and
reading, an individual with good phonological processing skills and
good phonological awareness tends to be better able to learn to
read and spell. In addition, phonological processing deficits have
been identified by researchers as the most probable cause of
reading-related learning disabilities. Due to this link, many
states have started to mandate phonological awareness training as
part of regular classroom reading curricula. At the same time,
school personnel are being required to be accountable and take
responsibility for the classroom curriculum and the remedial
reading services they provide. The problem is that it is difficult
for untrained teachers to train a user's auditory processing,
phonological awareness, processing and reading skills. Thus, it is
desirable to provide an auditory processing and phonological
awareness skill training system and method that overcomes the above
problems and limitations of conventional training systems and it is
to this end that the present invention is directed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The auditory processing, phonological awareness, phonological
processing and reading skill training system in accordance with the
invention may permit a user to improve the above skills in order to
become a better reader and better speller. The system may include
one or more training modules that each train a different set of
skills of the user. Each training module may include one or more
tasks wherein each task may focus training on a particular skill of
the user. Each module of the training system is adaptive so that
users at various different skill levels will find the training
modules challenging. In particular, each training module may change
the difficulty of a task based on the past performance of the user.
For example, in some training modules, the difficulty of the task
is increased when the user provides a predetermined number (e.g.,
three) of sequential correct responses while the difficulty of the
task is decreased when the user provides a predetermined number
(e.g., 2) of sequential incorrect responses. Thus, the system
ensures that the current task is at a difficulty level that is
sufficiently challenging to challenge the user's skills but not too
difficult to discourage the user from continuing the training.
In accordance with the invention, each training module may change
one or more different difficulty variables to change the difficulty
of the particular training. For example, a sound recall module may
change one or more linguistic modifiers. The one or more training
modules may be a sound recall module, a sound detection module, a
sound blending module, a sound identification module and a sound
pattern recognition module.
Thus, in accordance with the invention, a tool for training one or
more skills associated with the reading and spelling skills of an
individual is provided. The training tool comprises one or more
training modules that train a particular set of auditory
processing, phonological awareness, phonological processing and
reading skills so that the user's skills at the set of skills
improves and means for generating a stimulus for the user for each
training module, the stimulus comprising one or more of a graphical
image and an audible sound. The training tool further comprises
means for receiving a user response to one of the graphical images
and audible sound presented by each module.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for
training a user to recognize and distinguish a sound is provided.
The method comprises presenting a first and second sound to the
user wherein each sound has a particular set of acoustic components
(i.e., one or more of frequency, energy and duration) that
distinguish the two sounds and altering an acoustic component of
the first sound to be recognized by the user by a predetermined
amount in order to make the sound more similar to the second sound
so that the first sound is more difficult to distinguish from the
first sound. The method further comprises continuing to alter the
acoustic component of the first sound until the first and second
sound are identical. The modified acoustic components in accordance
with the invention may include frequency changes and changes in the
voice onset time (duration acoustic component).
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a method for
training a user to discriminate a sound is provided wherein the
phonetic context of sounds to be presented to the user is selected
to change the perceptual saliency of the sounds in order to change
the difficulty of discriminating the sounds wherein changing the
ordering of the sounds is based on the phonetic context of the
sounds. The method further comprises presenting a first and second
sound to the user based on the selected phonetic context of the
sounds.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a method
for training a user to discriminate a sound is provided wherein a
phonetic class of sounds to be presented to the user is selected to
change the perceptual saliency of the sounds in order to change the
difficulty of discriminating the sounds, wherein changing the
ordering of the sounds is based on the inherent acoustic and
phonetic properties of the sounds. The method further comprises
presenting a first and second sound to the user from the phonetic
class of sounds.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a computer-based
phonological skills training system in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a preferred embodiment of the
training tool of FIG. 1 in accordance with the invention including
one or more tests that are used to train one or more skills;
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the blocks of the training system
in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the games including
in the training system in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound detection training module in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
blending sound training module in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound identification training module in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound pattern training module in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 9 is a chart illustrating the differences in frequencies for
English language vowels;
FIG. 10 is graph of the acoustic vowel continuum;
FIG. 11a is diagram illustrating varying frequencies for
consonant-vowels syllables;
FIG. 11b is a diagram illustrating varying voice onset times (VOTs)
in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 12 is flowchart illustrating a method for training a recall
skill in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of the recall training
game in accordance with the invention;
FIGS. 14A-14E are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the recall training game of FIG. 13;
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a first task of the sound unit
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a second task of the sound unit
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a third task of the sound unit
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task of the sound unit
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the sound unit
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIGS. 20A-20E are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the sound unit identification training game of FIG. 19;
FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a first task of the blending
sounds training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a second task of the blending
sounds training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of the blending sounds
training game in accordance with the invention;
FIGS. 24A-24G are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the blending sounds training game of FIG. 23;
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a first task of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a second task of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a third task of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIGS. 30A-30F are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the sound identification training game of FIG. 29;
FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a first task of the sound pattern
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a second task of the sound
pattern identification training game in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a third task of the sound pattern
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task of the sound
pattern identification training game in accordance with the
invention;
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of the sound pattern
identification training game in accordance with the invention;
and
FIGS. 36A-36D are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the sound pattern identification training game of FIG. 35.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The invention is particularly applicable to a computer based
training system for training a child's auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
and it is in this context that the invention will be described. It
will be appreciated, however, that the system and method in
accordance with the invention has greater utility since 1) it may
be used to test and teach a variety of other individuals, such as
illiterate and cognitively-impaired people, individuals whose
native language is not English who are learning to read, and
adolescents and adults who read poorly and wish to improve their
literary skills; and 2) the system may be implemented on other
computer networks, such as the Web, the Internet, a local area
network or the like.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an embodiment of a
computer-based auditory, phonological and reading skills training
system 50 in accordance with the invention. In this embodiment, the
training system 50 may be executed by a computer 52. The computer
52 may be a stand-alone personal computer or a computer connected
to a network or a client computer connected to a server. For
purposes of illustration, an embodiment using a stand-alone
computer 52 will be described. The computer 52 may include a
central processing unit (CPU) 58, a memory 60, a persistent storage
device 64, such as a hard disk drive, a tape drive an optical drive
or the like and a training tool 66. In a preferred embodiment, the
training tool may be one or more software applications (training
different auditory processing, phonological awareness and
processing skills or reading skills) stored in the persistent
storage of the computer that may be loaded into the memory 60 (as
shown in FIG. 1) so that the training tool may be executed by the
CPU 58. The computer 52 may be connected to a remote server or
other computer network that permits the computer 52 to receive
updates to the training tool over the computer network. The
training tool may also be used in conjunction with the diagnostic
system as described is U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/350,791,
filed Jul. 9, 1999 that is owned by the same assignee as the
present application and is incorporated herein by reference.
The computer 52 may further include an input device 76 such as a
keyboard 78, a mouse 80, a joystick, a speech recognition system 82
or the like, a display 84 such as a typical cathode ray tube, a
flat panel display or the like and an output device 86 such as a
speaker for producing sounds or a printer for producing printed
output. The input and output devices permit a user of the computer
to interact with the training tool so that the user's skill at
various auditory processing, phonological awareness, phonological
processing and other reading skills are improved. For example, the
speech recognition system permits the user to speak into the speech
recognition system 82 in response to a stimulus from the training
tool as described below. The computer 52 may also execute a browser
software application in order to interact with the diagnostic
system as described above and download one or more updates to the
training tool.
As described below in more detail, the training tool may include
one or more different tools that train various auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological processing and reading skills
so that a child's proficiency at auditory processing, phonological
awareness and processing skills and reading skills may be
increased. The training tool 66 may keep track of a user's scores
in each skill area and adaptively change the difficulty of each
game in the training tool based on the user's current skills. For
example, the training tool may either increase or decrease the
difficulty of the training. As described below, the training tool
may alter one or more difficulty variables of a current training
(e.g., interval between stimuli, similarly of two different words
or sounds, level of background noise and the like) to change the
difficulty of the training. Now, more details of the training tool
will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating more details of the computer 52
that may be a part of the training system of FIG. 1. The computer
52 may include the CPU 58, the memory 60, the persistent storage
device 64 and the training tool 66. The training tool may further
comprise a user interface (UI) 100 and game logic 102. The user
interface may generate multiple images and audible sounds that are
viewed and heard and responded to by the user using the input
devices in order to train the user in various auditory processing,
phonological awareness, phonological-processing and reading skill
areas (the "skills"). The game logic 102 may store the one or more
games that make up the training tool wherein each game may train
the user in a different set of skills. The training tool in
accordance with the invention may use games to train the user since
the user may be a child that is more likely to be willing to learn
when given a game to play. In other words, the child may be playing
the game and, without realizing it, also training and improving a
particular skill. The training tool may also obviously be
implemented using similar games with different user interfaces for
adult users. Now, more details of the training tool in accordance
with the invention will be described.
FIG. 3 illustrates more details of the training tool 66 that
includes the user interface 100 and the game logic 102. In more
detail, the game logic 102 may include a game file database 110, a
score database 112 and a game administrator and scorer module 114.
The game file database may store one or more games of the training
tool wherein each game trains a different set of skills. Each game
in the preferred embodiment will be described below with reference
to FIGS. 4-36. As described above, the actual games contained in
the training tool may be updated or changed. The score database 112
may store the scores for one or more users for the one or more
games contained in the training tool. The score database 112
permits the user's progress at each skill to be monitored and
analyzed. The game administrator and scorer module 114 controls
which game is being played, the user interface for the particular
game, the score of the particular game and the level of difficulty
of each game. In this manner, the user of the training tool does
not to keep track of his/her score or progress since the system may
automatically track and report the scores and progress of the each
user that uses the system. The administrator also permits one or
more different users to user the training tool on the same computer
and keep track of each user separately. The administrator 114 may
also include statistical software applications (not shown) that
permit the administrator 114 to generate statistics about the one
or more users using the training tool. Now, an example of the games
included in the preferred embodiment of the training tool will be
described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the games included
in a preferred embodiment of the training tool 66 in accordance
with the invention. The training tool 66 may include a sound recall
module 120 (called "Calling All Engines" in this example), a sound
detection module 122 (called "Paint by Penguin" in this example), a
blending sound module 124 (called "Pesky Parrots" in this example),
a sound identification module 126 (called "Hippo Hoops" in this
example) and a sound pattern recognition module 128 (called "Duck
Luck" in this example). Each of these games may train one or more
skills as described below. For example, the recall sound module may
train a user's skills at auditory attention, short term memory,
figure-ground discrimination and sequential memory. Some of these
games have one or more tasks that must be completed to complete the
game. More details of the games is provided in the Appendix of the
provisional application which is also incorporated herein by
reference. While the sound recall module has one task, other
modules have more than one task and an example of the tasks within
each game will now be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound detection training module 122 in accordance with the
invention. The sound detection module 122 may include a task 130 of
identifying the number of sounds, a task 132 of identifying the
number and sequence of sounds, a task 134 of identifying the number
and sequence of sounds in a word and a task 136 of manipulating
sounds to form words. These tasks, together, train a user's skill
at auditory short term memory, sequential memory, temporal
processing (i.e., temporal ordering and temporal resolution),
pattern recognition, phoneme sequencing, phonological segmentation
and phonological manipulation. In the first task 130, the user is
asked to detect and identify the number of sounds in a series of
sounds at different difficulty levels such as by varying the number
of sounds presented to change the difficulty of the task. In the
second task 132, the user is asked to detect and identify the
number and sequence of sounds in a series of sounds and the
changing of the number of sounds presented to the user is used to
change the difficulty of the task. In a third task 134, the user is
asked to detect and identify the number and sequence of sounds in a
word. The identification of sounds in a word is more difficult than
the identification of isolated sounds so this task is harder than
the first two tasks. In the fourth task 136, the user is asked to
manipulate a series of sounds to form a new word which is the
hardest skill to learn. Thus, as the user's skills improve in a
particular area, the task increases in difficulty until a user has
mastered the skill. Each of these tasks will be described in more
detail below with reference to FIGS. 15-20. Now, the tasks
associated with the sound blending training module will be
described.
FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound blending training module 124 in accordance with the
invention. The module 124 may include a first task 140 of blending
sounds into words and a second task 142 of identifying the omitted
sound in a word. Together, these tasks train a user's skills at
auditory short term memory, phonological blending, auditory and
phoneme discrimination, word closure and auditory performance with
degraded signals. In the first task 140, the user is asked to blend
smaller units of sound separated by a varying time interval into a
larger sound unit and select that larger sound unit wherein the
varying time interval changes the difficulty of the task. In the
second task 142, the user is asked to, when auditorily presented
with a sequence of sound units that form a word except for an
omitted sound unit, identify the missing sound unit and the word.
These two tasks are described below in more detail with reference
to FIGS. 21-24. Now, the tasks associated with the sound
identification module will be described.
FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound identification training module 126 in accordance with the
invention. The module may include a first task 150 of detecting a
sound change, a second task 152 of discriminating consonant-vowel
syllables, a third task 154 of recognizing a target phoneme and a
fourth task 156 of identifying the position of a phoneme in a word.
The combination of these tasks trains the user's skills at auditory
vigilance, auditory and phoneme discrimination, phoneme
identification and phoneme sequencing. In more detail, the first
task 150 asks the user to detect a change of sound in a series of
sounds presented with an interval of preferably 1.0 seconds. In the
second task, the user is asked to identify a pair of
consonant-vowel (CV) syllables as being the same or different when
the pair are separated by a time interval of preferably 1 second.
In the third task, the user is asked to recognize a word in a
series of words that contains a target phoneme when the words are
separated by, preferably, a 2 second interval. In the fourth task,
the user is asked to identify the position in a word of a consonant
phoneme. These tasks will be further described with reference to
FIGS. 25-30. Now, the tasks that make up the sound pattern training
module will be described.
FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the tasks in the
sound pattern recognition training module 128 in accordance with
the invention. In particular, the module may include a first task
160 of identifying a sound at the end of a word, a second task 162
of identifying a sound at the start of a word, a third task 164 of
blending sounds into a word and a fourth task 166 of manipulating
sounds. The combination of these tasks trains the user's skills at
sight recognition, auditory sequential memory, short-term memory,
phoneme identification, rhyming, auditory and phoneme
discrimination, phonological blending, segmentation and
manipulation and word closure. In more detail, in the first task
160, the user is asked to, when auditorily presented with a target
sound or pattern of sounds, select a word from a set of responses
that contains the same sound or sound pattern at the end of the
word. In the second task 162, the user is asked to, when auditorily
presented with a target sound or pattern of sounds, select a word
from a set of responses that contains the same sound or sound
pattern at the beginning of the word. In the third task 164, the
user is asked to blend units of sound separated by a varying
interval of time into a target word. In the fourth task 166, the
user is asked to, when auditorily presented with a word and
instructions to manipulate one or more sounds into the word, choose
a word that matches the requested manipulation. More details of
these tasks will be described below with reference to FIGS. 31-36.
Now, a technique for acoustically modifying a sound in accordance
with the invention will be described.
At various times, it is helpful to acoustically modify a sound or
word to make to easier for a user to recognize the word or sound.
That acoustic modification or enhancement may then be gradually
removed from the word or sound as the user becomes better at
recognizing the sound or word. In this manner, the acoustical
modification in accordance with the invention may be used to
adaptively train the user to recognize a word or sound. To better
understand the acoustical modification in accordance with the
invention, the acoustic difference between vowels will be
described. However, the acoustic modification may also be used to
modify consonants, vowel-consonant pairs, words and the like. In
more detail, the acoustic modifications may include changing a
acoustic component and may preferably include changing the
frequency of sounds or changing the voice onset time of sounds.
FIG. 9 is a chart illustrating the differences in frequencies for
English language vowels. In particular, the primary acoustic
difference between vowels is their formant frequencies. In
particular, as shown in FIG. 9, the average formant frequencies of
the vowels are shown. As set forth in the chart, each vowel may
include a first formant frequency (F1), a second formant frequency
(F2) and a third formant frequency (F3) wherein the vowel is formed
by the combination of these formant frequencies over a period of
time. FIG. 10 is a graph showing the first and second (F1 and F2)
frequencies for English language vowels. The chart may be known as
the acoustic vowel continuum. In particular, each vowel along the
horizontal axis is a step along the continuum. During the acoustic
modification, the acoustic similarity of vowel pairs may be
controlled by starting the user with recognizing pairs of vowels
that are separated by, preferably, 4 or more steps along this
continuum, such as /i-a/, for example. As the user masters the
discrimination of those 4+ step vowel pairs, the training tool may
become more difficult by having the user distinguish vowel pairs
separated by three steps, then two steps and then one step, such as
/i-I/, for example. Thus, the training tool may control the
acoustic similarity of the vowel pairs based on their inherent F1
and F2 values. Now, the method of acoustic modification in
accordance with the invention for consonant-vowel syllables will be
described.
FIG. 11a is diagram illustrating varying frequencies for
consonant-vowel (CV) syllables. In particular, the primary acoustic
difference between r-l, m-n and d-g, for example, is the value of
the second and third formant frequencies at the onset of the
consonant. The graph in FIG. 11 illustrates how the formant
frequencies (F1, F2 and F3) differ at onset for a perfect /r/
(shown as stimulus 1 in the chart) to a perfect /l/ (shown as
stimulus 10 in the chart) with 10 steps in between. The number of
steps between the two consonants may be adjusted such that a
smaller or greater number of steps may be used. In accordance with
the invention, the training tool may begin by presenting the user
with the two stimuli with the greatest separation, such as stimulus
1 and 10 in the chart. As the user masters that combination, sounds
with a smaller separation are used. In accordance with the
invention, the above acoustic modification may be used for ra-la CV
pairs, ma-na CV pairs and da-ga CV pairs. In accordance with the
invention, the described acoustic modification may be used for
other sounds including other CV pairs, and their inherent
distinguishing acoustic properties in various modules and training
tasks.
In addition to modifying sounds as described above, the acoustic
modification may also be determined by the phonetic properties of
the sounds in accordance with the invention. In particular, the
acoustic modification may start with a group of tense-tense vowels
pairs and then continue with other vowel pairs (e.g., tense-lax).
The term "tense" describes a phonetic property of vowels (i.e.,
vowels that are produced with tense musculature of the
articulators, primarily the tongue). Within this category, 2-step
vowel pairs may preferably be used (e.g., /i-e/) although a
different number of steps may be used. The next vowel pair may be a
front tense-lax vowel pair (i.e., vowels produced in the front of
the mouth and paired such that each pair contains one tense vowel
and one lax vowel. Within this phonetic category of vowel pairs, a
decreasing number of steps between the two sounds may be used. For
example, /i-ae/ and then /i-a/ may be used. The next category of
vowels is back tense-lax vowel pairs followed by front lax-lax
pairs, followed by back lax-lax pairs. By selecting and training
subgroups of vowels based on their phonetic properties (front vs.
back and tense vs. lax) and then superimposing the method of
gradual step size reduction, a more complex and effective method of
training is produced. Now, changing the voice onset time (VOT) in
accordance with the invention will be described in more detail.
FIG. 11b is a diagram illustrating an example of differing voice
onset times (along the y-axis is milliseconds) for different
stimuli (along x-axis). In this example, nine different voice onset
times (steps) between /ba/ and /pa/ are shown although the number
of steps may be varied in accordance with the invention. The voice
onset time is defined as the amount of time between the onset of
the consonant and the onset of voicing (i.e., the onset of the
subsequent vowel). In this example of acoustic modification, the
time acoustic component is being varied instead of the frequency
acoustic component. Thus, in accordance with the invention, various
acoustic components, such as frequency or time, may be modified in
order to change the difficulty of distinguishing two different
stimuli. Now, the various modules of the training tool in
accordance with the invention will be described. In particular, the
sound recall training module will now be described.
FIG. 12 is flowchart illustrating a method 180 for training a sound
recall skill of a user in accordance with the invention. Although
the method is being described as a single task, the single task in
accordance with the invention may actually include multiple smaller
sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area within
the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 182, the training module may display
visual representations of a series of sounds/words or digits 184 as
shown in FIG. 13, generate written or oral instructions for the
user and then generate a series of sounds with a time interval
between each sound. In step 186, the user is prompted to identify
the graphical representations of the sounds/words/digits generated
by the computer in sequence. In step 188, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 190, the module may provide the user with feedback 191 (shown
in FIG. 13 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 13, a shield 192 may indicate a correct
response while a fire hose 193 may indicate an incorrect response.
In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system may be used in which
the user may advance to a higher level (as described below) if the
user has provided three prior consecutive correct responses and may
be decreased to a lower level (as described below) if the user has
provided two prior consecutive incorrect answers.
Thus, in step 196, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three prior
consecutive questions correctly within a specified amount of time).
If the user has met the advance level criteria, the module may
increase the difficulty of the task in step 198. The difficulty of
the task may be increased by changing one or more of a number of
different difficulty variables in accordance with the invention.
For example, the difficulty variables may include the number of
sounds in the series, the types of sounds since some sounds are
harder to distinguish than other sounds (e.g., long vowels are
easier to distinguish than short vowels which are in turn easier to
distinguish than consonants), the timing of the visual cueing
(e.g., the visual cueing may occur at the time that the sound is
generated or it may be delayed by some period of time making it
hard to rely on the visual cue for help), the level of background
noise (e.g., it is harder to distinguish sounds when there is more
background noise) or the type of linguistic modifier including in
the instructions to the user. The type of linguistic modifier may
include, for example, "and", "not", "or", "first", "last",
"middle", "before" and "after". For example, the task may ask the
user to identify a sound after a certain sequence of sounds. After
the level has been increased using one or more of the difficulty
variables, the module may loop back to step 182 to train the user
at the harder difficulty level.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the difficulty of the task should be reduced since the user has
provided incorrect responses to two prior questions) in step 200.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 202 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 182 to train at the lower difficulty level. If the user has
not met the decrease level criteria, then the method continues onto
step 204 in which the task continues at the current difficulty
level and loops back to step 182. In this manner, the user's recall
skills are trained. Now, several examples of the sub-tasks in the
recall training module will be described.
FIGS. 14A-14E are diagrams illustrating examples of different
sub-tasks of the recall training game of FIG. 13. In particular,
FIG. 14A illustrates the sub-tasks 200-204 of the recalling module
with a user recalling and sequencing 1 digit up to 5 digits which
is the most difficult. FIG. 14B illustrates one or more sub-tasks
205-209 for recalling and sequencing 1 word up to 4 words which is
more difficult than recalling the digits. FIG. 14C illustrates one
or more sub-tasks 210-214 for recalling and sequencing 1 to 4 long
vowels which is more difficult than recalling the words. FIG. 14D
illustrates examples of one or more sub-tasks 215-219 for recalling
and sequencing 1 to 4 short vowels which are more difficult to
recall than long vowels. FIG. 14E illustrates examples of one or
more sub-tasks 220-224 for recalling and sequencing 1 to 5
consonant sounds which are the hardest sounds to recall. Thus, the
difficulty of the recalling training module increases from FIGS.
14A-14E.
In summary, the recall training game may include 168 different
levels of plays which teach the user auditory sequential memory,
phoneme and word discrimination, auditory figure-ground
discrimination and comprehension of linguistic concepts. As
described above, the training may be controlled by changing the
difficulty variables. Now, a first task of the sound detection
module will be described in more detail.
FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a first task 230 of the sound
unit detection training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 232, the training module may audibly
present a series of sounds to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 234, the
user is prompted to identify the number of sounds heard by the
user. In step 236, the user enters a response to the module using
one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or the
speech recognition device. In step 238, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 240, the module may provide the user with feedback 242 (shown
in FIG. 19 as visual feedback of a paint tube, but it may also be
auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of
the visual feedback shown in FIG. 19, an empty paint tube may
represent an incorrect answer and a paint tube squirting paint may
indicate a correct response.
In step 244, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user responded to a sufficient
portion (e.g., 80%) of the presentations correctly within a
sufficient amount of time). If the user has met the advance level
criteria, the module may increase the difficulty of the task in
step 246. The difficulty of the task may be increased by changing
one or more of a number of different difficulty variables in
accordance with the invention. For example, the difficulty
variables may include the number of sounds in the series, a varying
time interval between sounds or the availability of the auditory
feedback provided to the user. After the level has been increased
using one or more of the difficulty variables, the module may loop
back to step 232 at the increased level.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the difficulty of the task should be reduced since the user cannot
adequately master the current level of the task since he/she
answered less than 80% of the questions correctly) in step 248. If
the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to have
the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease the
level difficulty in step 250 by changing one or more of the above
described difficulty variables and the method loops back to step
232 to train at the lower difficulty level. If the user has not met
the decrease level criteria, then the method continues onto step
252 in which the task continues at the current difficulty level and
loops back to step 232.
FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating a second task 260 of the sound
unit detection training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 262, the training module may audibly
present a series of sounds to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 264, the
user is prompted to identify the number and sequence of sounds
heard by the user. In step 266, the user enters a response to the
module using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the
mouse or the speech recognition device. In step 268, the module
analyzes the user's response to determine, for example, the
correctness of the user's response and performance of the user
based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed during the
response. In step 270, the module may provide the user with
feedback 242 (shown in FIG. 19 as visual feedback of a paint tube,
but it may also be auditory feedback) about the user's responses.
In the example of the visual feedback shown in FIG. 19, an empty
paint tube may represent an incorrect answer and a paint tube
squirting paint may indicate a correct response.
In step 272, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered a sufficient
portion (e.g., 80%) of the questions correctly within a sufficient
amount of time). If the user has met the advance level criteria,
the module may increase the difficulty of the task in step 274. The
difficulty of the task may be increased by changing one or more of
a number of different difficulty variables in accordance with the
invention. For example, the difficulty variables may include the
number of sounds in the series, a varying time interval between
sounds or the availability of the auditory feedback provided to the
user. After the level has been increased using one or more of the
difficulty variables, the module may loop back to step 262.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the difficulty of the task should be reduced since the user cannot
adequately master the current level of the task since he/she
answered less than 80% of the questions correctly) in step 276. If
the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to have
the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease the
level difficulty in step 278 by changing one or more of the above
described difficulty variables and the method loops back to step
262. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then the
method continues onto step 280 in which the task continues at the
current difficulty level and loops back to step 262. Now, a third
task of the sound unit identification training module will be
described.
FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a third task 290 of the sound
unit detection training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 292, the training module may audibly
present a word to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 294, the
user is prompted to identify the number and sequence of sounds
(which may include either syllables or phonemes where syllables are
more easily detected than phonemes) in the word heard by the user.
For example, "cat" has three sound units. In step 296, the user
enters a response to the module using one of the input devices,
such as the keyboard, the mouse or the speech recognition device.
In step 298, the module analyzes the user's response to determine,
for example, the correctness of the user's response and performance
of the user based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed
during the response. In step 300, the module may provide the user
with feedback 242 (shown in FIG. 19 as visual feedback of a paint
tube, but it may also be auditory feedback) about the user's
responses. In the example of the visual feedback shown in FIG. 19,
an empty paint tube may represent an incorrect answer and a paint
tube squirting paint may indicate a correct response.
In step 302, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered a sufficient
portion (e.g., 80%) of the questions correctly within a sufficient
amount of time). If the user has met the advance level criteria,
the module may increase the difficulty of the task in step 304. The
difficulty of the task may be increased by changing one or more of
a number of different difficulty variables in accordance with the
invention. For example, the difficulty variables may include the
number of sounds in the word, the availability of auditory feedback
provided to the user, and the syllable structure of the word. The
syllable structure of the word is the number and sequence of vowels
(v) and consonants (c) in a word. For example, the word "on" has a
syllable structure of "vc", the word "cat" has a syllable structure
of "cvc" and "stop" has a syllable structure of "ccvc". In general,
the easiest syllable structure is "vc" while the most difficult
syllable structure is "cccvcc". In a preferred embodiment of the
training tool, the syllable structures range from "vc" to "ccvc" or
"cvcc". After the level has been increased using one or more of the
difficulty variables, the module may loop back to step 292.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the difficulty of the task should be reduced since the user cannot
adequately master the current level of the task since he/she
answered less than 80% of the questions correctly) in step 306. If
the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to have
the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease the
level difficulty in step 308 by changing one or more of the above
described difficulty variables and the method loops back to step
292. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then the
method continues onto step 310 in which the task continues at the
current difficulty level and loops back to step 292. Now, a fourth
third task of the sound unit identification training module will be
described.
FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task 320 of the sound
unit detection training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 322, the training module may audibly
present a series of sounds to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 324, the
user is prompted to manipulate the sounds to form a new word. For
example, the user may be asked to use one or more phonemes to form
a new word. In step 326, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 328, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 330, the module may provide the user with feedback 242 (shown
in FIG. 19 as visual feedback of a paint tube, but it may also be
auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of
the visual feedback shown in FIG. 19, an empty paint tube may
represent an incorrect answer and a paint tube squirting paint may
indicate a correct response.
In step 332, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered a sufficient
portion (e.g., 80%) of the questions correctly within a sufficient
amount of time). If the user has met the advance level criteria,
the module may increase the difficulty of the task in step 334. The
difficulty of the task may be increased by changing one or more of
a number of different difficulty variables in accordance with the
invention. For example, the difficulty variables may include the
number of sounds in the series, the availability of the auditory
feedback provided to the user, and the type of manipulation
requested. For example, the user may be requested to manipulate a
word by re-arranging phonemes, deleting a phoneme, replacing a
phoneme, or inserting a phoneme which each have a different level
of difficulty. After the level has been increased using one or more
of the difficulty variables, the module may loop back to step
322.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the difficulty of the task should be reduced since the user cannot
adequately master the current level of the task since he/she
answered less than 80% of the questions correctly) in step 336. If
the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to have
the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease the
level difficulty in step 338 by changing one or more of the above
described difficulty variables and the method loops back to step
322. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then the
method continues onto step 340 in which the task continues at the
current difficulty level and loops back to step 322. Now, an
example of the sound unit identification training module user
interface will be described.
FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the sound unit
detection training game user interface 350 in accordance with the
invention. The user interface may include the visual feedback 242
as described above, a pause button 352 to pause the game, a speaker
icon 354 so that the user may request that the sound is replayed,
one or more different colored sponge prints 356 each representing a
click of the button by the user, and one or more different color
paintcans 358. During the game, the user hears a word, such as
"dog" and clicks on three different color paintcans indicating that
the word has three different sounds. As the user clicks on the
paintcans, one or more sponge prints may appear to provide the user
with feedback about the number of clicks the user has made. Now,
several example of the tasks of the sound unit detection module
will be described.
FIGS. 20A-20E are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of the sound unit detection training game of FIG. 19. In
particular, FIG. 20A illustrates a screen 360 in which the user is
counting the number and sequence of speech sounds while FIG. 20B
illustrates a screen 362 in which the user is segmenting sounds in
a word. As illustrated, each sub-task may use the same user
interface with changing stimulus. Thus, in FIG. 20C, a screen 364
is shown in which the user counts and sequences speech sounds, FIG.
20D shows a screen 366 in which the user segments and sequences
sounds within a word, and FIG. 20E shows a screen 368 in which a
user manipulates speech sounds to generate a new word.
In summary, the sound unit detection module may contain 68
different levels (in a preferred embodiment) which teaches a user
to count and sequence sounds in a series of sounds or in words and
to create new words by deleting, adding, substituting and
rearranging sounds. As described above, the tasks in the game may
be controlled and adjusted based on the difficulty variables at
each level of training. Now, the tasks incorporated into a
preferred embodiment of the blending sound training game in
accordance with the invention will be described.
FIG. 21 is a flowchart illustrating a first task 380 of the
blending sounds training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 382, the training module may audibly
present the segmented sound units of a target word to the user and
generate written or oral instructions for the user for the
particular task. In step 384, the user is prompted to identify the
word heard based on the segmented sound units. For example, the
user may hear "di" "no" and "saur" separated from each other by a
varying interval of time and the proper response should be
"dinosaur". In step 386, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 388, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 390, the module may provide the user with feedback 392 (shown
in FIG. 23 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 23, a gem 394 may indicate a correct answer
and a coconut 396 may indicate an incorrect response.
In step 398, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 400. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the size of the sounds units
since smaller sound units (e.g, speech sounds) are harder to put
together than are larger sounds units (e.g., syllables), the time
between the sounds units, the number of perceptually similar
response choices, the number of units of sound or the syllable
structure of the target word (as described above). After the level
has been increased using one or more of the difficulty variables,
the module may loop back to step 382.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 402.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 404 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 382. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 406 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 382. Now, a
second task of the blending sounds training game will be
described.
FIG. 22 is a flowchart illustrating a second task 410 of the
blending sounds training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 412, the training module may audibly
present sound units of a word with one unit omitted (e.g., /c/ and
/t/ for "cat") and generate written or oral instructions for the
user for the particular task. In step 414, the user is prompted to
identify the word heard based on the sound units heard combined
with the omitted sound unit. For example, the user may hear /c/ and
/a/ and the proper response should be "cat". In step 416, the user
enters a response to the module using one of the input devices,
such as the keyboard, the mouse or the speech recognition device.
In step 418, the module analyzes the user's response to determine,
for example, the correctness of the user's response and performance
of the user based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed
during the response. In step 420, the module may provide the user
with feedback 392 (shown in FIG. 23 as visual feedback, but it may
also be auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the
example of the visual feedback shown in FIG. 23, a gem 394 may
indicate a correct answer and a coconut 396 may indicate an
incorrect response.
In step 422, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 424. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the size of the sounds units
since smaller sound units are harder to put together than are
larger sound units, the number of sounds units in the word, the
syllable structure of the target word (as described above), or the
position in the word of the omitted sound (e.g., it is harder to
guess when the omitted sound is at the start of the word than if
the omitted sounds is at the end of the word). The position of the
omitted sound in the word may be the initial sound, a medial sound
or the ending sound. After the level has been increased using one
or more of the difficulty variables, the module may loop back to
step 412.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 426.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 428 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 412. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 430 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 412. Now, an
example of the user interface for the blending sounds training
module will be described.
FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface
438 of the sound blending training game in accordance with the
invention that may include the feedback 392 and one or more
graphical representations 440 of words. In operation, the user may
hear the sounds /t/, /r/ and /ee/ separately (or with one sound
unit omitted) and then blend the sounds together to form the word
"tree" and then click the appropriate picture 440 of the tree.
FIGS. 24A-24G are diagrams illustrating examples of different views
of sub-tasks of the blending sounds training game of FIG. 23. In
particular, each sub-task may use the same user interface, but will
train different skills as described above. Thus, as described in
ascending order of difficulty, a sub-task 442 (shown in FIG. 24A)
trains a user's skill at blending two syllables into a word, a
sub-task 444 (as shown in FIG. 24B) trains a user's skills at
blending three syllables into a word, a sub-task 446 (FIG. 24C)
trains a user's skill at blending four syllables into a word, a
sub-task 448 trains a user's skill at blending two phonemes into a
word, a sub-task 450 trains a user's skill at blending three
phonemes into a word, a sub-task 452 trains a user's skill at
blending four phonemes into a word, and a sub-task 454 trains a
user's skill at word closure (e.g., a user fills in missing
syllables or phonemes into a word).
In summary, the blending sounds training game may include 60
different levels which train a user to blend syllables and phonemes
into words. Once the blending has been mastered, the user may be
trained to complete words by filling in missing syllables or
phonemes. As described above, the difficulty of the training may be
adjusted adaptively by changing one or more difficulty variables.
Now, the tasks in a preferred embodiment of a sound identification
training module will be described in more detail.
FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating a first task 460 of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 462, the training module may audibly
present a sound repeatedly to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 464, the
user is prompted to identify when the sound changes. For example,
the module may generate one or more acoustically modified sounds as
described above, such as frequency changes and voice onset time
changes. In step 466, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 468, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 470, the module may provide the user with feedback 472 (shown
in FIG. 29 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 29, a hippo score 474 may indicate a correct
answer and a rhino score 476 may indicate an incorrect
response.
In step 478, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 480. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the type of sound (vowel,
consonant, etc.), the acoustic and perceptual differences between
the sounds (which may be modified by the acoustic modifier as
described above such as the differences in the frequency components
and duration of the voice onset time), the phonetic context, and
perceptual saliency of the sound.
The phonetic context refers to the neighboring, adjacent speech
sounds, either before or after the target sound. Because of the way
that sounds are co-articulated in connected speech, adjacent sounds
affect the acoustic properties of the target sound and thereby
affect its perceptual saliency and the level of perceptual
difficulty. Some phonetic contexts have greater impact than others.
For example, the /r/ and /l/ have a significant impact on the
preceding vowel. In this context, the acoustic properties of the
vowel are, in essence, distorted making this context more difficult
that perceiving a vowel in isolation or in a different phonetic
context, such as when it is followed by /t/. The acoustic and
perceptual saliency refers to the inherent acoustic properties of
sounds. Some sounds inherently have robust acoustic properties
(energy, frequency and duration) making them relatively easy to
perceive. Other sounds have weak acoustic cues which make them more
difficult to perceive. For example, long vowels have more acoustic
energy than short vowels and so are more salient. As another
example, the consonants r-l (known as liquid consonants) are longer
in duration than the consonants d-g (known as stop consonants) and
therefore are more easily perceived. As a final example, the liquid
consonants, r-l, have their acoustic energy distributed across a
wide frequency range in comparison to the consonants m-n (known as
nasal consonants), which have their acoustic energy concentrated in
the low frequency range, thus making m-n less perceptually salient.
After the level has been increased using one or more of the
difficulty variables, the module may loop back to step 462.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 482.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 484 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 462. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 486 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 462. Now, a
second task of the sound identification module will be
described.
FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating a second task 490 of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 492, the training module may audibly
present two sound stimuli to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 494, the
user is prompted to identify if the sounds are the same or
different. In step 496, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 498, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 500, the module may provide the user with feedback 472 (shown
in FIG. 29 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 29, a hippo score 474 may indicate a correct
answer and a rhino score 476 may indicate an incorrect
response.
In step 502, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 504. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the acoustic and perceptual
differences between the sounds (which may be modified by the
acoustic modifier as described above), and the inherent acoustic
and perceptual saliency of the sound as described above. After the
level has been increased using one or more of the difficulty
variables, the module may loop back to step 492.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 506.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 508 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 492. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 510 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 492. Now, a
third task of the sound identification module will be
described.
FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating a third task 520 of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 522, the training module may audibly
present a target sound and a series of words to the user and
generate written or oral instructions for the user for the
particular task. In step 524, the user is prompted to identify the
word that contains the target sound. For example, the target sound
may /b/ and a proper response is "ball". In step 526, the user
enters a response to the module using one of the input devices,
such as the keyboard, the mouse or the speech recognition device.
In step 528, the module analyzes the user's response to determine,
for example, the correctness of the user's response and performance
of the user based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed
during the response. In step 530, the module may provide the user
with feedback 472 (shown in FIG. 29 as visual feedback, but it may
also be auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the
example of the visual feedback shown in FIG. 29, a hippo score 474
may indicate a correct answer and a rhino score 476 may indicate an
incorrect response.
In step 532, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
is used in which the user must provide three correct responses in a
row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 534. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the acoustic and perceptual
saliency of the target sound. After the level has been increased
using one or more of the difficulty variables, the module may loop
back to step 522.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 536.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 538 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 522. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 540 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 522. Now, a
fourth task of the sound identification module will be
described.
FIG. 28 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task 550 of the sound
identification training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 552, the training module may audibly
present a target sound and a word to the user and generate written
or oral instructions for the user for the particular task. In step
554, the user is prompted to identify the position of the sound in
the word. For example, the module may generate the sound /c/ and
the word "cat" and the proper response is to identify the sound as
being at the beginning of the word. In step 556, the user enters a
response to the module using one of the input devices, such as the
keyboard, the mouse or the speech recognition device. In step 558,
the module analyzes the user's response to determine, for example,
the correctness of the user's response and performance of the user
based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed during the
response. In step 560, the module may provide the user with
feedback 472 (shown in FIG. 29 as visual feedback, but it may also
be auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of
the visual feedback shown in FIG. 29, a hippo score 474 may
indicate a correct answer and a rhino score 476 may indicate an
incorrect response.
In step 562, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 564. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the acoustic and perceptual
saliency of the sound. After the level has been increased using one
or more of the difficulty variables, the module may loop back to
step 552.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 566.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 568 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 552. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 570 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 552. Now, an
example of the user interface and an example of the sub-tasks will
be described.
FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example of the user interface
580 of the sound identification training game in accordance with
the invention. In addition to the feedback 472, the user interface
may also include a picture of a hippo (the user) shooting baskets
against a rhino (the computer). In playing the game, the user may
listen to a target sound (e.g., "e") and listen to series of words
while holding down the mouse button. The user is then supposed to
release the mouse button when the user hears the word containing
the sound. FIGS. 30A-30F are diagrams illustrating examples of
different views of the sub-tasks of the sound identification
training game of FIG. 29. Each sub-task may use the same basic user
interface of FIG. 29 with different sound stimulus. For example,
FIG. 30A illustrates a sub-task 582 for training a user's
discrimination of vowels, FIG. 30B illustrates a sub-task 584 for
discriminating between consonants in minimal pair CV syllables,
FIG. 30C illustrates a sub-task 586 for training a user's
recognition of diphthongs in a word, FIG. 30D illustrates a
sub-task 588 for training a user's recognition of tense vowels in a
word, FIG. 30E illustrates a sub-task 590 for training a user's
recognition of lax vowels in a word and FIG. 30F illustrates a
sub-task 592 for training a user's identification of the position
of a consonant sound in a word.
In summary, the sounds change identification module may include 155
levels that use natural and computer-generated speech to train
users to discriminate vowels and consonant sounds. The user may
also be trained to recognize sounds and to identify positions of
sounds in words. In addition, sound-symbol correspondence for
vowels, vowel digraphs, diphthongs consonants and consonant blends
may be presented to the user. As described above, the difficulty of
the training may be adaptively changed using the difficulty
variables. Now, a preferred embodiment of the sound pattern
recognition training module will be described.
FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating a first task 600 of the sound
pattern recognition training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 602, the training module may audibly
present a target sound or target sound pattern and a series of
words to the user and generate written or oral instructions for the
user for the particular task. In step 604, the user is prompted to
identify when the user hears the word that contains the target
sound. For example, the target sound may /b/ and a proper response
is "cab". In step 606, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 608, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 610, the module may provide the user with feedback 612 (shown
in FIG. 35 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 35, a lightbulb 613 may illuminate to
indicate a correct answer and a unilluminated light may indicate an
incorrect answer.
In step 614, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
may be used in which the user must provide three correct responses
in a row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 616. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the complexity of the sound
pattern, the perceptual saliency of the sound pattern or the
position in the word of the target sound. After the level has been
increased using one or more of the difficulty variables, the module
may loop back to step 602.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 618.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 620 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 602. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 622 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 602. Now, a
second task of the sound pattern recognition module will be
described.
FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating a second task 630 of the sound
pattern recognition training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 632, the training module may audibly
present a target sound or target sound pattern and a series of
words to the user and generate written or oral instructions for the
user for the particular task. In step 634, the user is prompted to
identify when the user hears the sound/word that contains the
target sound. For example, the target sound may be /b/ and a proper
response is "ball". In step 636, the user enters a response to the
module using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the
mouse or the speech recognition device. In step 638, the module
analyzes the user's response to determine, for example, the
correctness of the user's response and performance of the user
based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed during the
response. In step 640, the module may provide the user with
feedback 612 (shown in FIG. 35 as visual feedback, but it may also
be auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of
the visual feedback shown in FIG. 35, a light bulb 613 may
illuminate to indicate a correct answer and a unilluminated light
may indicate an incorrect answer.
In step 642, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
is used in which the user must provide three correct responses in a
row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 644. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the complexity of the sound
pattern, the perceptual saliency of the sound pattern or the
position in the word of the target sound. After the level has been
increased using one or more of the difficulty variables, the module
may loop back to step 632.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 646.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 648 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 632. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 650 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 632. Now, a
third task of the sound pattern recognition module will be
described.
FIG. 33 is a diagram illustrating a third task 660 of the sound
pattern recognition training game in accordance with the invention
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 662, the training module may audibly
present one or more sound units of a target word to the user and
generate written or oral instructions for the user for the
particular task. In step 664, the user is prompted to identify the
word heard. In step 666, the user enters a response to the module
using one of the input devices, such as the keyboard, the mouse or
the speech recognition device. In step 668, the module analyzes the
user's response to determine, for example, the correctness of the
user's response and performance of the user based on some
performance criteria such as time elapsed during the response. In
step 670, the module may provide the user with feedback 612 (shown
in FIG. 35 as visual feedback, but it may also be auditory
feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of the visual
feedback shown in FIG. 35, a lightbulb 613 may illuminate to
indicate a correct answer and a unilluminated light may indicate an
incorrect answer.
In step 672, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
is used in which the user must provide three correct responses in a
row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 674. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the complexity of the
structure of the sound units, the time interval between the sound
units and the presence or absence of background noise/auditory
interference (i.e., extraneous auditory stimuli presented between
sound units). The complexity of the structure of the sound unit
refers to the number and sequence of consonants and vowels. In this
module, the number of consonants and vowels for the entire word is
not changed, but instead for the onset only. For example, the
module may preferably begin with a very simple sound structure of C
("s" for example), proceed to CC ("st" for example) and then
finally to CCC ("str" for example). After the level has been
increased using one or more of the difficulty variables, the module
may loop back to step 662.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 676.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus needs to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 678 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 662. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 680 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 662. Now, a
fourth task of the sound pattern recognition module will be
described.
FIG. 34 is a diagram illustrating a fourth task 690 of the sound
pattern recognition training game in accordance with the invention.
Although the method is being described as a single task, the single
task in accordance with the invention may actually include multiple
smaller sub-tasks wherein each sub-task may train a particular area
within the skills or may vary a different difficulty variable (as
described below). In step 692, the training module may audibly
present a word to the user and generate written or oral
instructions for the user for the particular task. In step 694, the
user is prompted to change the sounds in the word presented to the
user to generate a new word. In step 696, the user enters a
response to the module using one of the input devices, such as the
keyboard, the mouse or the speech recognition device. In step 698,
the module analyzes the user's response to determine, for example,
the correctness of the user's response and performance of the user
based on some performance criteria such as time elapsed during the
response. In step 700, the module may provide the user with
feedback 612 (shown in FIG. 35 as visual feedback, but it may also
be auditory feedback) about the user's responses. In the example of
the visual feedback shown in FIG. 35, a lightbulb 613 may
illuminate to indicate a correct answer and a unilluminated light
may indicate an incorrect answer.
In step 702, the module may determine if the user has met the
advance level criteria (e.g. has the user answered three questions
in a row correctly). In this task, a 3/2 adaptive training system
is used in which the user must provide three correct responses in a
row to advance to the next level and if the user provides two
incorrect responses in a row, the user's level is decreased. If the
user has met the advance level criteria, the module may increase
the difficulty of the task in step 704. The difficulty of the task
may be increased by changing one or more of a number of different
difficulty variables in accordance with the invention. For example,
the difficulty variables may include the syllabic structure of the
word and the position of the sound that is being manipulated in the
word. For example, the sound being manipulated may be at the
beginning of a word, at the end of a word or in the middle of the
word. After the level has been increased using one or more of the
difficulty variables, the module may loop back to step 692.
If the user has not met the advance level criteria, the module may
determine if the user has met the decrease level criteria (i.e.,
the user has provided two incorrect answers in a row) in step 706.
If the user has met the decrease level criteria and thus need to
have the difficulty of the task decreased, the module may decrease
the level difficulty in step 708 by changing one or more of the
above described difficulty variables and the method loops back to
step 692. If the user has not met the decrease level criteria, then
the method continues onto step 710 in which the task continues at
the current difficulty level and loops back to step 692. Now,
several examples of the sound pattern recognition module will be
described.
FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example of a user interface
720 of the sound pattern recognition training game in accordance
with the invention. In addition to the feedback 612, the user
interface may also include one or more ducks 722 which says one or
more different word endings. In particular, a user hears "Which
duck says `sip` without the `s`?" and each duck may say a word
ending. The user may then click on the duck that said the correct
ending. FIGS. 36A-36D are diagrams illustrating examples of
different views of sub-tasks of the sound pattern identification
training game of FIG. 35. For example, FIG. 36A illustrates a
recognizing word endings sub-task 730 in which the user may be
asked to recognize rimes containing r-controlled vowels, rimes
containing post-vocalic /l/, closed syllable rimes and open
syllable rimes. An example of each type of word is shown in the
drawing. FIG. 36B illustrates a recognizing word beginnings
sub-task 732 in which the user is asked to recognize single
consonant blends and consonant digraphs (with examples of each in
the drawing), two-consonant blends and three-consonant blends. FIG.
36C illustrates a blending of onsets with rimes sub-task 734 while
FIG. 36D illustrates a segmenting sub-task 736 in which the user
segments and/or deletes phonemes, onsets and rimes.
The sound pattern identification training module may include 142
different levels that train a user to rhyme, identify common sound
and spelling patterns and to blend and segment onsets and rimes. In
addition, sound-symbol correspondence for vowels, vowel digraphs
and consonant blends may be presented to the user. As described
above, the difficulty of the training may be adaptively changed
using the difficulty variables.
In summary, the invention permits a user's skills at one or more
auditory processing, phonological awareness,
phonological-processing and reading skills to be trained so that
the user may become a better reader. The various skills may be
trained by the one or more training modules included in the system
in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the invention. In
accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, each
training module may include one or more tasks (in the form of
games) so that the user plays the game and, in order to master the
game, learns certain skills. The skills may include, for example
auditory attention, short term memory, figure-ground
discrimination, sequential memory, temporal processing, pattern
recognition, phoneme sequencing, phonological segmentation and
phonological manipulation, phonological blending, auditory and
phoneme discrimination, word closure, auditory performance with
degraded signals, auditory vigilance, phoneme identification,
phoneme sequencing, sight recognition, and rhyming. Each of the
skills help the user to read and spell better since a person that
has the auditory, phonological and reading skills are more likely
to be able to read and spell.
While the foregoing has been with reference to a particular
embodiment of the invention, it will be appreciated by those
skilled in the art that changes in this embodiment may be made
without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention,
the scope of which is defined by the appended.
* * * * *